Home Sweet Home
by Veep
Summary: Why does Pete buy that house? Why does it end everything between them?


"Are you leaving?" Daniel looked over at Sam as she slipped on her sandals.

"Yeah, I've still got some unpacking to finish." Daniel winched.

"The new house, huh?"

"Why do you have to say it like that?" Sam put her hands on her hips.

"I didn't say it like that. You heard it like that." Sam walked past him and opened the locker room door.

"That's ridiculous. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah, I know. 0800 and I won't be late." Daniel grimaced again.

"Sure you won't." Sam grinned at Daniel and let the door close.

Sam walked into her new home. It was really Pete's new home but she was trying to adjust. He was trying to be sweet when he bought it for them. She got a glass of water and checked the answering machine, no messages. Sam was glad Pete was working second shift, it gave her time to get use to the house and unpack. Time alone to think about this situation was just what she needed.

Sam unpacked three boxes before she was interrupted by a knock on the door. She looked through the peephole and saw a tall brunette woman holding a basket. Sam opened the door.

"Hi." Sam smiled politely at the stranger.

"Hi, I'm Linda from up the street. I saw you move in a couple weeks ago and thought I should come by and say hello and welcome." Linda smiled and shuffled her feet.

"I'm Sam. Please come in. I'm afraid I've been working so much lately I haven't had time to meet any of my neighbors yet." Sam stood to the side and let Linda enter the house. She closed the door as Linda paused in the vestibule.

"This is for you. It's just some muffins, brownies, and cookies. Just the kind of stuff that keeps our husbands in check." Linda's smile grew and she winked.

"Well, thank-you but I'm not married."

"Oh, I could have sworn I saw a man helping you move."

"My fiancé, Pete."

"When's the wedding?" Linda followed Sam into kitchen.

"We haven't actually set a date yet."

"Makes sense. My husband and I lived together for a while before we got married too. A test run never hurts. Is he here? I'd love to meet him." Linda looked around the kitchen and back towards the door.

"No, he works second shift." Sam turned her back on Linda. "Can I get you something to drink?" Sam reached up to the cabinet as she felt pain rip through her back. She fell to the floor, hitting her head on the counter as she went down. Linda moved to stand over her.

"You really are perfect." Linda's voice deepened. Sam saw the taser in Linda's hand and felt the second jolt go through her. Sam wanted to protest as Linda brought out a large syringe, complete with huge needle, but she was tasered into submission again. A few minutes after being injected the world around Sam darkened and she succumbed to the sedative.

Sam's first thought was cold. Her right side was colder then her left. She was stiff and sore. Her mind told her to try a different gate address but then she remembered her visit to Antarctica was in her past. There was a loud buzz that sounded nothing like her alarm. Her eyes fluttered, then quickly blinked, and finally she managed slow controlled blinks. As her eyes focused, she saw gray concrete, not SGC gray, but plain old cement gray. She was lying on a cement floor, on her right side. The walls were made of cinderblock. There were wood steps just past her feet. They led up.

Sam tried to sit up and found her hands wouldn't cooperate. She rotated her head to look up at her hands. They were handcuffed around a metal pole that extended from the floor to the ceiling.

"Good afternoon. I guess it's really evening but who cares." Sam turned her head and saw a man standing in front of a dryer. He was folding a towel as he spoke. 

"How are you feeling?" Sam just stared, unwilling to speak since she wasn't sure what she should say. The man reached back into the dryer and brought out more laundry. He kept folding and glancing in her direction. Sam looked down at herself. She was wearing her panties and sport bra. That explained why she was so cold, especially since she was lying on a basement floor. She brought her legs closer to her chest.

"Don't start getting shy on me now. You're too beautiful to be hiding." The man grinned at her but his eyes showed his true desire.

"Who are you?" Sam knew this man had pretended to be Linda to get into her homr but that still didn't explain who he was and why he wanted her.

"That's not important. In the long run it won't matter."

"What does matter?"

"Us and the time we'll spend together." He finished packing the clean and folded laundry into a basket. 

"I wish I had time to talk more but you'll just have to wait. Scream all you want. No one can hear you and no one knows you're here." He picked up the basket and walked to the bottom of the stairs.

"I left you a bucket in case you need to use the facilities." He nodded to a pail sitting close to the pole. "I also left you some water and a granola bar. You can have more later, if you're good." He turned and walked half way up the stairs. He slowly rotated his head back towards her.

"We're going to have sooo much fun, you'll see." He walked up the rest of the stairs and disappeared from view. Sam heard three locks click. Sam brought her legs closer to her chest and sat up slightly, leaning against the pole. She tried to keep her eyes open but the drugs were still circulating in her system and she lost.

He was sitting on the steps watching her the next time she woke. She had no idea how long she'd been asleep and there were no windows to give her a clue.

"I wonder if he's missing you yet? There haven't been any missing person reports matching your description on the scanner." The man smiled at her as she struggled to sit up.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?"

"You really should eat. You'll need your strength."

"For what?"

"You'll find out when the time is right." He stood up and stepped closer to Sam. He bent down and ran his hand up her left leg to the outside edge of her panties.

"Your running has really kept you in great shape. What else do you do to stay in shape?"

"What?" Sam's brow creased in confusion. "You want to know how I work out?"

"We have a few hours to kill." He began to laugh hysterically. "Sorry, inside joke. I didn't think it would hurt if I got to know you a bit."

"Whom do you work for? Who sent you?"

"No one sent me. I was drawn to you. I think you're the perfect one and this time I'll finally be able to get her out of my head." He ran the back of his hand over her cheek. Sam pulled back. His lip curled up and he growled just before he hit her hard across the face. Her head hit the pole.

"Don't cross me. I can always find another if you make yourself a nuisance." He stood and looked down at her. His face softened. "Eat." He turned and left her alone. There was one light left glowing at the top of stairs leaving Sam surrounded by shadows.

"Have either of you seen Carter this morning?" Teal'c and Daniel both shook their heads no as Jack glared at them. He was worried and trying to hide it with anger. Sam never just didn't show up. Jack moved to the phone and called the surface sign-in station.

"She hasn't reported in this morning. I'm calling her house." Jack picked the phone back up and lifted his head.

"You should try the new house." Jack bit back a sigh as Daniel spoke. "She told me as she was leaving yesterday that she was heading there." Jack put the receiver on his shoulder and punched one button on the phone.

"Walter, connect me with Colonel Carter's new residence." Daniel and Teal'c watched as Jack waited.

"Hello. This is General O'Neill at Cheyenne Mountain. Did I wake you?" Daniel sat forward and his eyes widened slightly, obviously hoping Jack was speaking with Sam. Jack shook his head no and Daniel sat back.

"I'm sorry I had to disturb you, Pete. I'm looking for Carter. Is she still there? Sure that's fine." Jack covered the mouthpiece of the phone.

"He's looking, he didn't see her when he got home from work but he's checking to see if she got in after him."

"She left here mid-afternoon, right after we were released from infirmary and cleaned up." Daniel rubbed his hands down his thighs and tightened his fingers around his knees. Jack nodded his understanding and turned his attention back to the phone.

"Well, thanks for checking. No, I'm sure everything's fine. She probably stayed up too late working on some project and fell asleep on base. I'm sorry I worried you. Get some sleep." Jack wasn't doing a great job of reassuring Pete. "Of course. I'll call you in an hour if we haven't located her." Jack put the phone down.

"She's not at home, he doesn't think she's been there recently, and her car isn't in the garage." Jack picked the phone back up and pushed seven buttons. Teal'c and Daniel watched him as he waited.  
"Hello. Who is this? Where's Carter?" Jack's voice got louder as he spoke. He slammed the phone down and stood.

"Jack?"

"Some man answered her cell phone. He hung up on me." Jack hit redial. He waited for over a minute before he slammed the phone down again.

"No answer."

"What are you thinking, Jack?" 

"I'm thinking she didn't disappear by choice."

"I agree O'Neill. It is likely that she is in great danger and we must make haste in locating her." Teal'c and Jack both stood and moved towards the door. Daniel briefly lagged behind, due to shock and worry. 

Pete couldn't get back to sleep. He knew it wasn't like Sam to not be contactable. He tried her cell phone but it just rang. He was tempted to call Mark. Pete knew he and Sam fought over the house at first but she seemed to have calmed lately. He decided it wasn't time to draw her brother into anything yet. He went back to the bedroom and got dressed. The least he could do is find her car.

"Are you getting a signal from Colonel Carter's car?" Jack leaned over the technician's shoulder. He was glad Sam had been paranoid enough to bug her own car after she was kidnapped.

"Yes, sir. Here are the coordinates." Jack grabbed the paper and raced out of the control room. Daniel and Teal'c followed closely. None of the men spoke as they detoured by the armory and checked out handguns.

"Turn right at the next light." Teal'c directed Jack as Daniel held on in the back seat.

"We're awfully close to Sam's new house." Neither Jack nor Teal'c responded to Daniel's observation.

"I believe I see Colonel Carter's vehicle to our left, O'Neill." Teal'c pointed to the small silver car in a distant spot at the far end of a parking lot near a park. Jack parked far away from her car and the three men got out. They spread out and slowly approached her car. Teal'c noted the position of several people in the park while Daniel and Jack each looked in different windows of Sam's car.

"Everything looks normal." Daniel shrugged his shoulders and stood up, looking over the car as Jack stayed bent peering into the driver's side window.

"I suppose." Jack also stood. He looked out into the park.

"Maybe she went for a run, she fell, and she hasn't been able to call yet." Daniel tried to look optimistic but neither Jack nor Teal'c fell for it. They all turned as a vehicle pulled up beside them. The window rolled down and Jack's gut knotted as he recognized Pete.

"You found her car."

"Yeah." Jack stepped closer to Pete's car as he spoke.

"But no sign of her."

"No." Jack's eyes narrowed at Pete.

"Ah, hell."

"What's going on?"

"Follow me. I'll explain it all at the station." Jack hesitated. "If I'm right we don't have time to waste." Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c jogged back to Jack's truck and followed Pete.

"Let me see if I understand." Jack was seething mad. He was pacing the room in an effort to not kill Pete Shanahan. "Because you were new they wouldn't let you join in the biggest case to hit Colorado in years." Jack's hand signaled the other police outside the door.

"That's not what I meant!" Pete tried to defend himself.

"Shut up until I finish!" Pete sat down and seemed to shrink. "You decide to set up your own sting operation to catch a serial murderer who's been kidnapping women from the park by buying a new house across from said park and using your fiancé as bait!"

"I never intended to use Sam! I love her and I'd never want to see her hurt!" Pete stood to defend himself.

"But you knew this sicko was after physically fit blond women in their mid-thirties, right?" Jack's voice was quiet, which made him even scarier.

"Yeah, but I never thought..."

"Maybe you didn't and maybe you knew he'd go after Carter. Maybe you thought you'd be able to catch him and be a hero. Maybe you though this would get you in with the big dogs." Jack was standing toe to toe with Pete. Pete tried to look Jack in the eye but he looked away and lost the staring contest. Daniel and Teal'c were standing against the wall watching. They were both waiting for Jack to hit Pete and neither intended to stop him.

"I'd never do that to her." Pete whispered the words.

"You'll have to explain that to her." Jack stepped back and turned away from Pete. Teal'c followed Jack to the door. As Jack opened the door he heard a solid punch connect. Jack and Teal'c spun and saw Pete fall back against the chair in which he had previously resided. Daniel was shaking his hand in the air.

"I needed that." Daniel walked past Jack and Teal'c.

"Daniel?" Jack and Teal'c followed Daniel out of the room as two of Pete's fellow cops went in to help him up.

"I know you wanted to do it as much as I did and Sam will forgive me faster then you."

"True." Jack grinned. The three men made their way back to the room the police had been using as the serial murder control center. The walls were covered in pictures of previous victims. They had words carved into their legs, across their chests, and on their stomachs. They each had ligature marks on their wrists and ankles. The times of death indicated they were each killed in early March, around the eighth or ninth, one death each year for the last four years. The newspapers reported the deaths but no one outside a small group of detectives knew that the deaths were related. Serial murders didn't help tourism or make the public feel safer.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Pete's captain handed Jack a cup of coffee.

"I wanted to but I refrained." Jack took the cup.

"I'll deal with him, trust me." Jack nodded his response to the captains assurance.

"So what can you tell us and what can we do?"

"I've pulled the reports so you can read them. There are numerous similarities in each of the murders. This guy doesn't leave much evidence behind. We pulled a couple hairs off the first victim and got some skin from under the fingernails of the third woman. The DNA in the hair and skin matches but there were no hits in the state or federal data banks so he must not have a record. He never leaves semen behind. The knife he uses seems to be a mass-produced kitchen knife you can get in any of a dozen cheap sets." The captain led the three men to a table covered with stacks of folders. They sat down and began reading. It was two hours before Daniel put down the last folder and stood.

"Oh, god, Jack. What's going to happen to her?" Daniel ran his hands through his hair and began to pace.

"She's going to be fine. She's strong and we'll find her before he does anything." Jack stood and walked over to Daniel. He put a hand on Daniel's shoulder and tried to get the images of the slashed women out of his head. He hated that Daniel would now have to carry these pictures in his mind as they searched for Sam.

Captain Jacobs saw Jack and Daniel moving around the room and went over to see if they had noticed anything in the files the other officers had missed.

"Any ideas, gentlemen?"

"I suppose you've checked back every March and only these last four had murders similar to these." Daniel looked down at his notepad as he spoke.

"We went back ten years and only found murders in this area over the last four years." The captain nodded as he spoke.

"What about other areas around the nation or the world?" Daniel looked up at captain.

"We don't have the resources to find that out. We gave our information to the FBI and we didn't get back anything relevant." Jack saw Daniel bristle at the captain's response and he knew Daniel wanted to do a more thorough computer search.

"Would you mind if we see if we can dig up anything you weren't told about?" Jack was trying to be diplomatic with the captain so they wouldn't lose their best resource.

"Any help would be appreciated."

"Can you do it from here, Daniel?" Jack watched Daniel ponder the question.

"I'm pretty sure I can. If I can't I can call the base." The captain led Daniel to a computer. Daniel spent over three hours searching national databases. Teal'c brought him coffee and retrieved the articles he printed. Jack shuffled between reading the articles and watching Pete sitting alone in an observation room. The captain found Jack watching Pete.

"Pretty sorry SOB if he really did use his fiancé as bait." The captain watched Jack's lack of response.

"I agree."

"I think your friend found something. Wanna come take a look?" Jack's response was to follow the captain back to the computer station where Daniel was hunkered.

"Whatcha got Daniel?" Jack leaned over Daniel's shoulder. Teal'c was sitting in a chair beside Daniel. The captain was standing beside Teal'c. The printer was making loud noises as ink settled on clean white paper.

"Twenty-eight years ago a woman was murdered in Boulder near Fourmile Creek. Her name was Molly DeAnginue. She was found in her home. Her wrists and ankles were tied to her bed. She was gagged. The word whore was carved into her right leg. Slut was carved into her left leg. Her breasts were mutilated and there were deep wounds on her stomach. The medical examiner reported that she bled to death slowly. She was a police officer working undercover. Her killer was never found."

"That sounds a lot like what has been happening to these women. Can you bring up a picture of her?" The captain leaned onto the table beside Teal'c as he spoke. Daniel typed as the other three men watched. A picture of a blond woman in her mid-thirties appeared on the screen.

"The newspaper reports at the time said she had a young son, six years old, at the time of her death. She was separated from her husband who lived in Nevada. He wasn't a suspect because he had an alibi at the time of the murder, on March ninth. Oh, God!" Jack flinch at Daniel's tone.

"What?" Jack demanded.

"They found her son hiding in a closet. He was in the house at the time of the murder." Daniel's grief stricken eyes turned to Jack.

"Did he say who did it?" Daniel turned back to the computer searching for an answer to Jack's question.

"No, he said he found her like that and hid."

"Poor kid. I think I remember hearing about this when I was at the academy." The captain straightened his back as he spoke. "She was working undercover to stop a drug and prostitution ring. The police assumed at the time her death was connected to the investigation. I'll have the files pulled." The captain walked over to the main desk and spoke with a clerk.

"Daniel, find out where that boy is today." Daniel nodded at Jack and returned to the computer. He had his answer by the time the captain returned.

"I've got an officer going down to the main records warehouse. It'll take him some time but he should be able to find the records." Jack nodded to acknowledge the captains statement but he kept his eyes on the screen as Daniel's search got results.

"He moved to Nevada to live with his dad after the murder. They apparently moved a lot while he was growing up. He has a juvenile record but it's sealed. He came back here when he was twenty but he only stayed a few months. He moved between Oklahoma and Nebraska before coming back to Colorado five years ago. According to this he works at a state run mental institution."

"Where is he now?" Jack's voice was low and dangerous. It was a tone Daniel had learned to respect.

"He moved back into the house where his mother died four years ago." Daniel face paled as he read the screen. Jack tensed.

"I think we have a suspect." Jack faced the captain as he spoke.

"I'll be damned. I'll call together a team and we'll meet here in an hour."

"We're going with you." Jack stood tall as he made his demand.

"That's out of the question. My men are trained professionals who know how to..."

"We go with you or I'll call the president and have this case placed under my jurisdiction. I've done it before and I sure as hell won't hesitate to do it this time. Carter's important to us and we're going to be there when this goes down." The captain had seen the look in Jack's eyes in other men before. He knew he wouldn't win this showdown.

"Fine, but we go in first."

"Ok by me. We'll be back, suited up, and ready to go in an hour." Jack led Daniel and Teal'c outside. They got in Jack's truck without speaking.

Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c made it back from the SGC in under an hour. They were carrying standard earth weapons and suited in black ops outfits. There were at least twenty officers in the room, including the SWAT team. Jack saw Pete across the room. He was armed and suited up.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Jack screamed across the room and pointed at Pete. The captain quickly stepped in front of Jack.

"He convinced me he has a right to come along. He has to stay in the back and out of our way."

"He better be in a different vehicle then us if he plans on surviving the ride." Jack glared at Pete and Pete hung his head.

The cops spent twenty minutes reviewing the plan. SWAT went ahead of the other teams to set up in neighboring houses and yards. Two men pretending to be traveling salesmen went door-to-door asking neighbors to quietly leave their homes. The other team members were in four SUVs. Two were prepared to pull up in front of the house and two were positioned behind the house. Two officers and Jack were assigned to go to the door and ask to speak with Jason DeAnginue, the man who had possibly witnessed his mother's murder as a child. A man they suspected of recreating his mother's murder.

Sam watched the man slowly walk down the basement stairs. He knelt down near her and smiled.

"Good afternoon. It's almost time for the party to begin." Sam let him lean down towards her back. He released her cuffs. As he shifted his weight to look at her she used her legs to slam his face to the right. His face hit the hard cold cement floor. Sam scrambled to the steps but he grabbed her right ankle and pulled hard.

"It won't be that easy." Sam felt the needle enter her buttocks and knew she'd lost.

Sam was lying on her back, a position she never liked. She tried to turn onto her side but found neither her left arm nor her left leg would cooperate. She opened her eyes in a flash and saw the rafters above her head. She instantly knew she wasn't in the basement any longer. She turned her head to look around the room. She was tied to a bed in the middle of large room with a low ceiling, an attic perhaps. There was a chair and a small table at the end of the bed but no other furniture in the room. Sam's eyes widened at the sight of the knives on the table. Sam screamed but the gag tied securely around her mouth muffled it.

"I'm glad you're awake." The man looked at his watch. "It is almost time to begin." He walked over and cut off Sam's sports bra and panties. Sam squirmed as best she could but the ropes around her wrists and ankles were tight.

Jason was surprised to hear the doorbell. It was late afternoon and he'd just finished getting Samantha ready. He always met his fiends at restaurants or bars. He never invited dates over to his house. His neighbors didn't know him and never dropped by to chat. He figured it must be some kid selling cookies or raffling off a bike. He checked Sam's bindings and gag before he went downstairs.

"Be a good girl while I'm gone." He smiled and patted her bare leg before he walked away. Sam looked around the room. She had to find a way to signal for help. The only window in the attic, on the opposite side of the room, was covered with cardboard. The bed was covered in thick plastic. Sam could see the same plastic on the floor extending far out past the bed. Her stomach sank as she realized the stains on the floor and footboard must be from other victims. She thrashed harder. The headboard and footboard creaked but they were sturdy and didn't give under the pressure she created as she pulled.

The captain watched with binoculars from across the street as the three men walked up to the door. It took Jason time but he did open the door after the second ring.

"Hi, I'm Jack. This is Bill and he's Ralph. We noticed the SUV you have parked in your drive and wondered if it was for sale." Jack tried to give his best calming smile.

"Sorry, but no." Jason moved to close the door.

"You haven't even heard our offer."

"I'm afraid no offer is worth it. I'm a bit busy right now and can't talk." Jason moved to close the door again but Jack put his foot in the entrance.

"Look, I wrecked my girlfriends SUV yesterday and I promised I'd find her another just like it. Yours is the first I've seen. Her settlement should be for 15,000." Jack moved closer.

"I said no. Good-bye." Jack heard a banging noise from upstairs. Jason turned his head to look upstairs and Jack took the opportunity. He grabbed Jason by the back of the neck and forced him inside and against the wall. Jason began to fight back as soon as Jack touched him. He elbowed Jack in the side as the other two men joined the fight. They wrestled with Jason and were sitting on him when the two cars pulled up out front. Six officers were sitting on a screaming Jason as others invaded the house and secured the rooms.

Jack immediately went up the stairs. Teal'c and Daniel followed him to the second story. Jack wandered from room to room looking for the source of the bang he'd heard. All three men were in the upstairs hall when they heard another soft bang. It came from overhead. Jack found the attic ladder and pulled it down. He went up first followed by Teal'c and Daniel. He found Sam naked and sobbing tied to a large bed in the sparse attic. Jack took off his shirt and placed it over her. He untied her hands while Daniel untied her feet. Teal'c stood lookout, preventing the cops from finding Sam naked and upset. Once she was untied Sam sat up and let Jack hold her. He talked to her softly.

"It'll be ok now. We found you." He rocked her and rubbed her back. She nodded her head. Her tears quickly faded and her cheeks flushed red as she thought about them finding her unclothed. 

"I'm better now. Can you turn your back for a second while I put your shirt on?" All three men turned and Sam slipped Jack's shirt over her head. It wasn't as long as she would have liked but if she held the hem down she could keep it lower then her buttocks.

"It's ok to look." They all turned back towards her. Teal'c let Captain Jacobs up the steps. He walked over to Sam and Jack.

"You must be Colonel Samantha Carter." Sam nodded. "You're very lucky to have such good friends. We wouldn't have found you without their help."

"SAM!" Sam heard Pete's voice downstairs. She saw the look of fury cross Jack's face. She reached a hand out and laid it on his arm. He turned towards her and shook his head. He saw the question on her face but he refused to be the one to tell her how she'd been betrayed.

"I haven't allowed Mr. Shanahan up here." The captain saw Jack's discomfort and decided Sam had to know the truth. "General O'Neill and I both believe Mr. Shanahan used you as part of an unapproved solo operation to trap a serial murderer who's been working in Colorado for the last four years. He says that wasn't his intension but he knew when he bought his house that four blond women in their mid-thirties had been abducted from the park in the last four years and brutally murdered. Mr. Shanahan wanted to join the task force but since he was new to the department I wouldn't allow him to join. I think he wanted to find a way to prove he was ready to play with the big boys." The captain watched Sam's face pale as he spoke.

"Let him up." Jack's eyes widened as Sam spoke. He stood as Pete topped the last step. Jack took a defensive and protective stance at the head of the bed beside Sam as Pete stepped closer.

"Sam, you gotta know I'd never do anything to hurt you." Sam tilted her head and looked at Pete.

"You knew about the murders?"

"Yes." Pete maintained eye contact with Sam.

"You knew I fit the victim profile?"

"Sort of." Pete's eyes wandered to the side.

"You thought if you caught the guy you'd be accepted on the force." Pete didn't immediately answer.

"Well yeah, but I also knew how important it was to get this scum bag off the streets."

"And you thought I'd be able to take care of myself, right?"

"That's not how it was." Pete gae up maintaining eye contact.

"That's why you always wanted to run with me. You hated running but you didn't want me out in the park alone. That's true isn't it?" Sam was screaming and Pete was cowering.

"Sam you gotta believe me." Pete was whispering.

"No, I don't. The guys and I will be coming by tomorrow to pack my things. We're over."

"Sam, please..."

"You heard her." Jack took a step towards Pete. Pete held his ground but he kept his eyes focused on Sam.

"I also suggest you find new employment. I'll be forwarding a copy of this report to the FBI and your old precinct. I have a feeling you'll find it difficult to find employment as more then a security guard." The captain closed in on Pete's other side as he spoke. Daniel and Teal'c were moving in behind him and Pete recognized he was out numbered. He left the attic with only one last glance towards Sam, sitting on the bed covered in only a shirt still slightly trembling.

Sam stayed the night at Jack's. Daniel and Teal'c camped out in the living room while Sam tossed and turned on the spare bed. All three men felt the need to stay with her because they'd come so close to losing her.

They went to Pete's house the next day and were greeted with a for sale sign. It only took them three hours to pack up all of her belonging and get them into Jack's truck. Jack was surprised she had so few boxes in the house and most of those weren't unpacked.

They moved everything back to her place and ordered dinner. They watched some mindless game shows on television while they ate. Daniel and Teal'c seemed to know all the answers. Sam wasn't paying any attention as she moved her food around her plate. Jack was watching Sam.

Sam went into the kitchen to get some more soda. Jack followed.

"How are you really doing?" Sam gave a low laugh.

"Been better." Jack slowly nodded. "At least I got away sooner rather then later."

"Not early enough by my estimate." Jack grumbled.

"I don't mean away from the psycho murderer. I mean away from Pete."

"Oh. It didn't look like you'd really moved in much. I though he got that place a few weeks ago."

"He did, but I knew."

"Knew what?"

"I knew it wasn't right. I kept trying to force it. I told myself if I just kept trying it would work. I thought he was my last chance at a life." Sam's eyes filled with tears. Jack opened his arms for her. She melted into him.

"There's always another chance, believe me, I know all about extra chances." Sam smiled and nodded into his chest. They joined Daniel and Teal'c in the living room. All three guys stayed the night. It took a few weeks but Sam regained her shaken but not torn confidence. Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c were with her the whole way and Jack promised himself that once she found her footing again he would open up all new opportunities for Sam. 


End file.
